Why A Whale?
by whoshallJudgeAngels
Summary: If you were a prophet running from God, where would you go? And what would you do if He suddenly pulled you back by the seat of your pajamas? Or better yet, out of a big fish? Jonah, oh such a stubborn one; he was sorry the people repented! But God loved both the delinquent prophet and the sinful city of Nineveh so much that He decided to give them a bit of a hard time...


**All scripture taken from the New King James version and shown in bold.  
DISCLAIMER: I do not own God's Word or the book of Jonah. **

So, most of us know about the dude who jumped a ship heading the opposite direction from Nineveh, where he was supposed to preach. God sent a storm that had debilitating effects for Jonah: the sailors threw him overboard, he washed up in the belly of a whale, and started praying for mercy. Yep. This screw-up guy was in a whale's belly for three days, fervently supplicating to God to get him out. Anyways, the Lord does get him out... and Jonah_ does _go to Nineveh.

That's the most famous part of the story.

**"Now the word of the LORD came to Jonah the second time, saying 'Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and preach to it the message that I tell you'. So Jonah arose and went to Nineveh, according to the word of the LORD..."** (Jonah 3:1-3) What happened then? Basically, Jonah listened to God... for a little while, at least. He spread the Word of the Lord, and guess what the outcome was? The people of Nineveh... CRUCIFIED HIM! Right? Nope. What? They didn't. Instead, they _repented_. **"Then God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way; and God relented from the disaster that He said He would bring upon them, and He did not do it."** (Jonah 3:10) They responded so beautifully to Jonah's heaven-enabled preaching that God forgave them, and put off the destruction of the previously sinful city!

Do you know what Jonah did then?

**"But it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he became angry. So he prayed to the LORD, and said 'Ah, LORD, was not this what I said when I was still in my country? Therefore I fled previously to Tarshish; for I know that You are a gracious and merciful God, slow to anger... Therefore now, O LORD, please take my life from me, for it is better for me to die than to live!"** (Jonah 4:1-3) He was asking God to help him commit suicide! Jonah simply could not bear the thought of the people of Nineveh not being destroyed by the Lord's holy wrath! He was still so full of hate for these people that he was _sorry_ that they repented. (Get it? The _prophet _was sorry that the _people repented_!). And (of course) God had something to say about that: **"Is it right for you to be angry?"** (Jonah 4:4) What did He mean by that?

Truthfully, I have no idea, but it got Jonah thinking... perhaps in the wrong way, because he went outside the city, made himself a crude shelter, and sat there, waiting to see what would happen to the city he so despised. **"And the LORD God prepared a plant and made it come up over Jonah, that it might be shade for his head to deliver him from him misery. So Jonah was very grateful for the plant. But as morning dawned the next day God prepared a worm, and it so damaged the plant that it withered. And it happened, when the sun arose, that God prepared a vehement east wind; and the sun beat on Jonah's head, so that he grew faint. Then he wished death for himself **(agian...)** and said, 'Is it better for me to die than to live.'"** (Jonah 4:6-8) Then, God basically told Jonah that if he pitied a plant that he had not nursed, or given anything for, then He could certainly pity a city of people who could not **"discern between their right hand and their left." **(Jonah 4:11) Obivously, Jonah couldn't either...

Sometimes, we view God's call as a scary thing. There _will_ be hard days, but God won't ever call you to do anything that you hate... unless, of course, it could mean salvation - loosely used - for _you_ as well. He knows you, and whether or not you are ready for a certain task, or anything for that matter. When God calls upon your heart to do something... answer quickly. The belly of a whale is not an awesome place to start trusting God.


End file.
